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1.28.2011

You know, after the State rests its case, the defendant has the right to ask the judge for a directed verdict of acquittal if the State has failed prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt. That is, no rationale jury could convict the man so the judge finds him not guilty and ends the trial.

Twenty-five years ago today, I was sitting at my desk in law school with KRLD on the radio. The broadcast of the Challenger's launch was going to be broadcast but the station was late getting to it. Once they did, the first words I heard were Christopher Glenn (of Saturday Morning "In The News" fame) say, "Something is definitely wrong here."

I've had people dispute my account*, but I ran to the TV to get the news and none of the networks had cut in yet. It was the weirdest feeling, in that pre-Internet age, to know that any second I would see a "Breaking News" banner across the screen.
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* Some people have said that the launch was broadcast live on the networks. I just don't think that's right. Then again, it's been 25 years.

Edit: It might have been on CNN but I didn't have cable. Was it on ABC, CBS or NBC live?

Early this morning, someone reported that they saw someone place a suspicious package in a manhole near Cowboys Stadium. Cops responded like gangbusters only to find nothing in the manhole.

At about the same time, a lady reported her car stolen from a parking lot in Dallas with an infant in the back. Cops responded like gangbusters, issued an Amber Alert, only to have the lady admit she was lying.

Then JPS in Fort Worth was shutdown after a gunman was reported being on the premises. Cops responded.....(oh, you know)..... only to find no gunman.

TMZ says that Dallas needs 10,000 more strippers for Super Bowl week. Riiiiiight. (And is there anything more annoying then those guys in the "newsroom" on the TMZ TV show?)

A lady was doing a horrible job in the self check out line in the grocery store last night, and I sighed as I waited behind her. I guess I was a little loud because she apologized. I felt bad about that.

I'm not sure what's going on in Egypt, but when the government shuts down the Internet to prevent protester news from getting out, it's not good.

Can we take another week of Super Bowl coverage? I knew it would be bad, but I didn't know it would be this bad.

There were two huge plums of smoke high in the sky to the north of Decatur this morning that looked like a missile launch.

Tiger Woods shoots a 69 in his first tournament of the year and is five behind the leader?

I bet the Illinois Supreme Court deciding in record time yesterday that Rahm Emanuel could be on the ballot for mayor of Chicago drove the Obama haters on here crazy.

No terrorist attacks in the first half of Obama's first term? I guess we can say "Thank you President Obama for keeping us safe over the last two years."

ESPN's Erin Andrews was on the sideline of the TCU game and reported that the Nike shoes were causing Frog players to slip. Now she has announced a Reebok endorsement deal that had to have been in the works at the time of that report. Man, that's bad. And finally people are noticing.

The Update reports this morning that the Decatur ISD Superintendent has received a $10,000 raise to take his salary to $145,000.

There's also a blurb about thieves in Wise County shaving the hair off of horses' tails in Wise County. Someone explain that to me.

I'm not 100% sure that every DNA exoneree out of Dallas County is innocent (DNA from someone else doesn't always mean he did not commit the crime), but most of these guys are black, convicted by white juries in the 1970s, and have served a ton of time. I would suspect there might be a little bit of an attitude of "we're not absolutely sure you're innocent, but you've been locked up long enough even if we're wrong."

How Charlie Sheen isn't dead soon from partying is beyond me. (And it's funny to think the first time most of saw him was as a bit character at the Chicago Police Station in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Pic.)

Joel Osteen was on the Piers Morgan Show on CNN last night, and I can't tell you how much I love that Morgan guy's interviewing skills. He politely whacked Osteen around on the issue of being a multi-million dollar pastor.

Osteen could be a politician because of his ability to handle tough questions (but I think he cringes every time his super hot wife begins to talk.)

Had a DWI jury trial get cancelled at the last minute yesterday when the cop decided he would finally reveal that he actually did have a DVD of the initial traffic stop.

I'm not in the loop, but it seems like twenty years ago Decatur was run by a group of power brokers. I don't think that's true any more.

I'm in favor of the "State's Rights" argument in general, but then I cringe when I think of how our life would be if the power of the ultra-conservative Texas legislature increased to frightening levels.

I think the Republicans fear the Tea Party more than Democrats because of the Tea Party's ability to divide.

It seems like we went twenty years without seeing former Cowboy Walt Garrison and now it seems like he's on TV promoting something all the time.

Almost forgot: A loyal reader wanted to know if there were any swimming pool companies that don't mind coming to Wise County. (And, no, not above-the-ground pools. We're talking the cement pond type.)

All 5,000 of the $200 outdoor tickets for the Super Bowl have been sold. And that's before they even were offered to the general public. Incredible.

Mrs. LL got a $100 "charge" for allegedly running a red light monitored by a traffic cam in Fort Worth. Due to a snafu in mail forwarding, the video of her committing this crime is no longer online. She can go to a police department and watch it (after going through miles of red tape), but paying $100 seems more convenient.

But she swears she didn't do it. "They accuse me of speeding? Heck, guilty. Running a red light? No way." Then again, she constantly sighs whenever I hit the brakes when the light changes to yellow.

The snow in the Northeast is insane. And remember that an outdoor Super Bowl will be played in New York in 2014.

The lady in charge of the Dallas County Crimestoppers Program was arrested for fraud on the fund. I've been wondering for years about the status of the Wise County Crimestoppers Program. Every person placed on probation in Wise County is required to pay $50 into that fund -- and we are talking about a ton of people over the years. But I bet there's hardly ever a payment from that fund to tipsters. Shouldn't there be a public accounting every year?

Around 40 dead in a blast in Baghdad this morning. [This is where I normally rag on the Iraqi war.]

Sarah Palin on the State of the Union Speech: "His theme last night in the State of the Union was the WTF -- winning the future," continued Palin. "I thought, 'OK.' That acronym? Spot on. There were a lot of WTF moments throughout that speech." Good grief.

That's what NPR asked its listeners to do, and this is the word cloud created from the responses. (In case you don't know, a word cloud is a visual representation of the frequency of a word's occurrence.) The link, by the way, also explains the presence of "salmon."

I'm not sure the Wise County Word Cloud would look the same. And I'm not making any promises, but describe it in three words and I'll try to create one.

Yeah, it's sorriness to punch/slap a guy (@ the 23 second mark), but you would have thought the the other kid had been shot. He had a little "I've been hit" move followed by the "I might be dead" move.

And I love the lady in the stands after #34 gets tossed. "What!!!????!!!" Has to be momma.

It takes a couple of years to get "used" to a new President. It just seemed very natural to see Obama deliver the State of the Union speech.

I didn't see the Michele Bachmann's Tea Party response (only CNN carried it live) but everyone is talking about how she wasn't looking at the camera.

Lots of emergency vehicles by the convenience store in Rhome (which has the Grandy's) this morning. Not sure what's going on.

The "NFL Experience" in downtown Dallas doesn't look particularly entertaining. Even for kids.

And there has been a pre-Super Bowl commercial running for a month on The Ticket promoting such "fun things" as "community events, a 5K run, and an essay contest".

The Family Pup now wants to get up at 4:00 in the morning for no reason. And I discovered a chewed up sandal in the closet. When I showed it to her for one of those "look what you did" moments, she started chewing it again. I give up.

Watched a probation revocation hearing yesterday in the district court in Decatur where a local guy received 12 years in prison. The whole thing was just hard to watch -- I hate those hearings.

But it looks like the guy had his chances but continued to screw up.

My free three month subscription to Satellite Radio is over. Am I renewing? Nope. Everything I seemed to like had as many commercials as regular radio.

Turned over from the State of the Union to watch part of my first Mavs game of the season because Blake Griffin was in town. I didn't last long. How you guys can watch the NBA is beyond me.

The judge in the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor is considering televising the trial. The chances of him allowing it are equal to the size of his ego.

Video: Handcuffed guy jumps out of back seat of cop car going down highway.

There's a strange murder trial going on in Denton where the body of the missing "victim" hasn't even been discovered. Through day one of the trial, there seems to be suspicions that the defendant killed her but the prosecution is miles from proving it beyond a reasonable doubt.

And when the prosecutor tells the jury in opening statements that the Defendant "killed his wife", my initial reaction is one of "I'm not sure you have any way of knowing that."

Edit: Commentors are confused about Corpus Delicti vs. Habeas Corpus. And can you be successfully prosecuted in Texas if the body hasn't been found. Yes, if the defendant has confessed. I haven't heard anything about a confession in the Denton case.

What's this weird deal of the Fox 4 news anchors walking to different areas of the set?

The Update has a blurb about the proposed State of Texas budget cutting local library funding by 99% and requesting protest letters on behalf of the Decatur Public Library. But it doesn't tell us how much of the library's total budget comes from the State.

A teary, underage beauty queen has been arrested and busted for public intoxication at a major state university.

Megan Burgess, 19, who was crowned Miss Arkansas Teen 2010 and handed her title to her successor just two weeks ago, was taken into custody over the weekend at the University of Arkansas.

Campus cops said they received a call from Burgess' dorm room around Saturday at 1 a.m. The worried caller said they were concerned about Burgess after she ran out of her dorm room and into the streets.

Whether it be a web site or a TV news station, I don't need a "Countdown to Kickoff Clock" for the Super Bowl. We all know we've got to be beaten down with this for two more weeks.

You realize that currency is only worth something because we believe and all agree that it's worth something. That came to mind when I read a story about how Facebook has created it's own gaming currency that will now be mandatory for any social game on its platform that uses any type of virtual currency. (Confusing, I know.) Heck, the future seems so crazy I can see it being an alternative to the dollar some day.

Stitches removed from Mrs. LL's wrist. All systems go on.

If you have any of those insane "surcharge" issues assessed by DPS, you need to check out this. There are a lot of restrictions, but you might be able to make them all go away for $250.

The State of the Union speech is tonight. I don't care who delivers it, it's a silly piece of propaganda that America could do without.

My neighbor actually came over and asked to borrow a couple of eggs yesterday. It was like Leave it to Beaver. We charged her for them. (Kidding.)

Gov. Perry designated the Voter ID Bill as "emergency" legislation this week in order to get it on the fast track. Emergency? Really?

Right by the building in Fort Worth that I always go to for driver's license hearings (part of the DWI representation), there's a Planned Parenthood office. I always look away from any girl or couple walking in there because you know they are under a lot of stress.

Academy Award nominations were released before 8:00 this morning. The list here. The King's Speech, which sounds incredibly boring, had the most nominations but it's supposed to be really, really good.

My movie watching has fallen off a cliff: I've not seen one of the ten Best Picture nominees.

Did you see the widely distributed "artist rendering" drawing of the Tucson shooter that was released after his court appearance yesterday? How did he go from bald in the crazy book-in photo to having a full head of hair in the drawing?

The 2nd Grader in the House told me last night that in the new version of the Three Little Pigs one of the pigs dies. Come again?

1.24.2011

Story (which is basically D Magazine defending itself against not mentioning any marriage issues in this month's story about him which has a subheading of "on marriage, loss and how he lucked into broadcasting.")

When I was a little kid, there was a guy that would wear some weird jump suit and have have an exercise show on TV. Jack LaLanne died yesterday at the age of 96.

This Super Bowl talk is becoming a beat down. But I'll probably end up going down to Sundance Square to see the ESPN broadcasting setup.

Now the Family Cat's new bit is to try and bolt out the door every time a door is opened. She went missing for 30 minutes yesterday until she decided that inside isn't so bad.

"Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he will introduce emergency legislation requiring women seeking abortions to first get a sonogram of the fetus. Perry, speaking Saturday at an anti-abortion rally in Austin, said the measure would also include the requirement that women listen to the sound of the heartbeat." Maybe I was wrong about his presidential aspirations. I think he's running for Pope.

I think the JesusHatesObama.com commercial that was rejected by Fox for the Super Bowl was submitted knowing it would be rejected and thereby getting it publicity. Like I guess I just did.

In case you missed Keith Olbermann abruptyly quit his show on MSNBC on Friday. Of course, this will only generate comments about how Fox trumps MSNBC.

Anyone have an update regarding the wreck listed in the Updateover the weekend? That looks awful. The lady grew up in Alvord.

Apparently the speaker at the last Wise County Tea Party meeting advocated the legalization of dope.

I took a record long nap on Saturday. I think everything finally caught up with me.